Matt & Sam's Orlando Adventure 2010! - Day 6 - IOA and WWOHP

[Guest]

Sam and Matt’s Orlando Adventure! – Day 6 – Islands of Adventure, WWOHP and Cirque du Soleil


First of all, I'd like to apologise for the huge gap in my trippie - finishing my post-grad, Christmas and New Year and starting my new job all got in the way! But I'm back now, and determined to get it finished.


To say I was excited about today would be a dramatic understatement. I couldn’t wait to finally see….The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Harry Potter is such a big part of my childhood – I was 11 when my Grandma bought me the first book on a whim (before it was a national obsession) and so I grew up with the series. My Mum and I go to the Imax to see each film when it comes out, and my late Grandma came too, it was our tradition. We’d have to buy three copies of the latest book to avoid fighting over it!

So to finally see WWOHP, after all the build up, and looking at pictures and videos online, was amazing.

We were up at 6.30am, for the 8am early entry into the park. After dressing, packing our over night bags and checking out via the TV (which was fab, so quick and easy, despite Matt not trusting that we’d actually checked out) we headed to the car park to offload our luggage before heading to IOA.

Our original plan was to grab breakfast from Citywalk en route, but stupidly we didn’t think that at 7.30am, nowhere would be open! We bypassed the Hard Rock Hotel breakfast area completely and so in the end decided to wait until after WWOHP to get something to eat. We’d had a coffee in the room, and figured we could wait before we ate.



I love the music on the approach to the IOA gates, it’s so mystical. A small but steady stream of people, all hotel guests I assumed, were heading for the gates and we were soon striding through Dr. Seuss towards WWOHP.

As soon as we started to see flashes of Hogwarts in the distance, I couldn’t stop grinning. After a half-walk half-run past strollers, groups and slow walking families, we went through the gates and followed the crowds towards Hogwarts Castle.



It really is like stepping into the films – the detailing is unbelievable, its better than I ever could have imagined. It was so hard not to stop and gawp at everything, but Matt pulled me along towards the castle.



We did make a bit of a rookie error on the way in – we saw the Dragon Challenge lockers, and after reading about not being able to take anything on, started to secure one before a staff member told us there were different lockers at the actual Forbidden Journey ride. Whoops!

As we approached the castle we joined a steady queue for the lockers. After putting everything in, we rejoined the queue, which moved pretty steadily all the way to the loading area. Which was a shame, because although we didn’t want to queue for ages, we did want savour the inside of the castle.

As we walked through the greenhouse bit, we got chatting to the British family behind us, who said they never, ever get up early for the parks, see rope drop etc…but they’d got up for this!

I don’t want to spoil the inside of the castle for those who haven’t been yet, but it’s truly amazing. The attention to detail is incredible, there’s so many elements to it.

The ride itself was great too – the blend of technology, the ride itself and physical surroundings made for one hell of a ride! It’s not too intense (although we’re big coaster fans), it’s just very cleverly put together. So much fun.

We had a nosy in the shop, but as it was heaving we left to explore the rest of Hogsmeade. The queue for Forbidden Journey was already 40-50 minutes, and the park hadn’t even opened yet. We considered a second ride but neither of us wanted to wait, we were happy that we’d experienced it and decided to move on.



Dragon Challenge was next on the agenda, and it was already a favourite with both of us (well, Duelling Dragons was!). The re-theming must have been a doddle, with the castle already being there. We headed for Chinese Fireball (fire) first, and it was pretty much a walk on. One of the ride attendants was from Leeds Met University – on hearing our Yorkshire accents she came to ask if we were from the city! We had a good natter, as my friend went to Met (I went to Leeds Uni, but the student experience is pretty much the same). She was on a summer work programme, lucky thing.

Fire, sorry, Chinese Fireball, was great, our first inverted coaster of the holiday and we loved it. That point when you think your going to hit the other train always makes me jump – I even tuck my legs in, convinced I’m going to kick someone! We headed straight round to Hungarian Horntail (ice) – another good ride, but I think fire wins for me, it just feels that little bit more intense.

With the major rides out of the way, we set off to have a good nosy around Hogsmeade. We considered Ollivanders, but the queue was ma-hoo-sive and we wanted to crack on. I think our luck with wait times to that point had spoiled us, as we had very little patience for huge lines.









But the other stores and shop fronts were great, it really did feel like we were on the film set. We went to check out the Hogwarts Express:



…and of course, we had to buy a pint of Butterbeer – which tasted like American cream soda, with added caramel. Far too sweet for me, but Matt enjoyed it!





(How freaky is that woman looking at the camera?!)

As the crowds got bigger, we realised the park had opened properly and so we decided to head for breakfast. Matt was absolutely starving (super quick metabolism, so he doesn’t do well without his food!) and so we decided food and a sit down were in order.

As we planned to tour IOA from the beginning, Marvel Superhero Island, I suggested Cresent Moon Bakery for breakfast as I’d read some good reviews in other people’s trippies.



We both opted for ham and cheese croissants and orange juice, and sat and watched people filing into the park as we ate. It was definitely needed, we both felt better for having food in our bellies! The croissants were huge but we managed most of them.



(That did start as a full croissant, I was just a bit slow with the camera!)

[Guest]

Then it was time to hit IOA and begin our journey around the lake. The Hulk was first – and I was so excited to take Matt on this, as he’d never rode before. I loved it, so after securing a locker (the lockers for everything were starting to do my head in a tad) and FOTL cards in hand, we pretty much walked straight on.
It was a great as I remembered, and Matt loved it – the adrenaline junkie in him was happy we were finally getting on some proper coasters after the Disney parks.



The wait time for Spiderman was already huge, so we were grateful for our line-hopping privileges. But despite joining the Express line, the number of single riders and other FOTL guests meant we still waited a good 15, 20 minutes before boarding. Even though it’s starting to show its age a bit, the ride was still brilliant – I forgot quite how intense it was!

We both enjoyed it, but I think the intensity may have been a tad too much for Matt straight after breakfast, as he suddenly felt quite ill – a bit dizzy and nauseous. We grabbed a seat in the shade, and I got him a lemonade from a nearby stall – and managed to empty my purse out onto the floor. Coins everywhere. As I scooped them up, trying not to go bright red, this American guy behind me said to his young son: ‘go help the lady with her coins’. So suddenly I had a second pair of tiny hands helping out, it was so sweet. I even forgave his Dad for calling me ‘lady’ – I’m 22, damnit (well, I was then!). I thanked them and headed back to Matt.

I think the late breakfast, heat and four rather intense rides in two hours means his insides were a tad shook up. He suffers from IBS, so his digestive system isn’t brilliant at the best of times, so we had a break until he felt a bit better.

Once the dizzy, sick feeling had passed, he seemed to discover his second wind, so after a few photo spots around Marvel :



…we headed through to Toon Lagoon.





I LOVE the themeing of this part of IOA, I could stand and read all the comic strips for hours. It was getting hotter and hotter, so we were glad of the water rides in store. Popeye first, straight on via the Express Line. I panicked a bit about of video camera getting wet in the covered hold in the middle of the raft, but it did a great job and everything was bone dry afterwards.

Unlike us! We had the superb luck of being sat under a stream of water for about 2 minutes at one point, much to the amusement of our fellow rider! There was nothing we could do, the raft stopped and there was no way to avoid the stream of icy water going down our backs!

We squelched our way around to Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls, and subsequently shivered our way through the indoor, air condition queueing area. The Express queue was quite slow too, which didn’t help! Oh, and is there any dignified way for tall people to get into those logs? I’m 5 foot 10, I have 35 inch legs and trying to shimmy them into the ride logs was a nightmare. I managed in the end, but I don’t think my dignity was with us when we moved off!

In front of us wan a American man and his son (not the coin collectors from earlier, I did check) who was great to ride with – they were laughing all the way round and betting who’d get wettest at every drop. In all the laughing I nearly peed myself when we got to the final drop – I’d completely forgotten how high and steep it was! True to form, I screamed like a banshee the whole way down.

I always find it funny how ridiculously wet these rides make you – Splash Mountain and Kali River Rapids etc, just don’t compare. Matt wrung his t-shirt out and it seemed like litres of water were pouring out of it!



I’m not a fan of the drowned rat look, so I decided to spend $5 dollars on the ‘people dryer’ – essentially a phone box with hairdryers in the walls. It did an OK job actually, but seemingly it doesn’t get much use, as I got loads of attention! People asking if it worked, sticking their hands in to feel the airflow (nice bit of personal space invasion there!) and Matt just looked rather embarrassed by me, shaking my hair about like a Labrador after a bath.

Now, some of the Florida veterans among you might be asking why I bothered to dry myself with Jurassic Park River Adventure just around the corner.
Well, the answer is, I’m an idiot. As I’d not been to Florida for 6 years, my memory of how wet you get on Jurassic Park had softened and convinced me I’d get a light splashing.

As it happens, we walked through to Jurassic Park, me feeling dry (ish) and less squelchy – only to go on River Adventure and get soaked. Absolutely drenched, again. Matt thought this was the event of the day – I was devastated! Fun ride though.



We decided to stop for lunch, and shared a pepperoni pizza, a chocolate brownie and a large coke (see the coke addiction in full swing!). True sugar-laden Florida fare in all its glory. As we ate we saw an American family next to us have the mother of all domestics, with the son throwing a strop because his Mum wouldn’t let him take his 8-year-old sister on River Adventure. The whole picnic area was watching, but they were too busy bellowing at each other to notice!

The afternoon rain was timed nicely with our lunch stop, and by the time we carried on through Jurrasic Park to Lost Continent it was nice and sunny again.



We joined the Express line for Posideon’s Fury, and although we went straight to the front of the queue, we still had to wait 10-15 minutes for the next show to begin. I was still wet, and the air con was on full blast, so I shivered my way through the cave/queueing area – my god it was dark down there. I remember it being dark, but I’m pretty sure I couldn’t see my feet at one point! It was liberating passing the normal line though, as on my first ever visit I remember waiting in that same line for what felt like an eternity!

My shivering continued throughout the show, until the fire effects kicked in and then I felt lovely and warm! We had a good host, who tried to modernize the spiel a little bit with references to Facebook etc., and the show was a lot better than I remembered, we both really enjoyed it. The use of space and the movement into different rooms is really well done.

But boy was I glad to get back into the Florida heat! I’m a total cold wuss, it’s my bugbear. Having both seen Sinbad before, we decided not to wait around to catch a showing. My little sister and I watched the show on our holiday video about 10 times after our first trip, so I feel like I know the thing backwards anyway.

As we entered the Dr Zeuss section the skies greyed over and the rain started again, but I’d remembered to bring my umbrella today, so we could carry on. The only ride we really cared about as Cat In The Hat – it’s a must, even for childless folk! So cute and weird and wonderful. I think Matt thought I was nuts, I loved it.





After a slight wander around the rest of the Zeuss section, we decided to leave the park. We were happy we’d got to do everything we wanted, and we wanted to have a break back at Orange Lake before heading to Downtown Disney for Cirque du Soleil that evening.

We headed back to the car in the Hard Rock Hotel car park, but on driving out, our card wouldn’t open the barrier. I then realised we’d not paid for parking – we were never asked at check-in, or check-out, so we totally forgot.
I was about to dash back up the hotel to pay, when all of a sudden this bloke walking past sees us by the barrier, scans his card to open it, and waves us off! We were so grateful to him – he saved us a $15 parking fee!

We got back to Orange Lake, unpacked our overnight bags and then Matt had a napped. I discovered E!’s ’50 Worst Break-ups’ and happily enjoyed my trash TV and some chips and salsa. I uploaded a couple of pictures to email to my parents, and checked Facebook (to find my friends inspecting pictures I’d posted looking for an engagement ring – pah, they’d just have to wait until I got home for the news!).

At about 5.30 we dressed for Cirque du Soleil, and decided to head to Golden Coral for dinner. I’d read mixed reviews on the Dibb, but found more bad than good and we decided it would fine for a cheap and cheerful option that evening.

Well, cheap it was, but cheerful – no way. Maybe we’d been spoiled by Disney dining and other nice restaurants, but Golden Coral was just awful. It was heaving, which meant stacks of the plastic, scratched-to-death plates were piling up on tables, the buffet areas looked like a tornado had hit them, and the food just wasn’t very nice. It was ok, it wasn’t inedible, but I had no desire to go back.
Matt didn’t mind it – he wasn’t blown away by any means, but he said I was being snobby. Maybe he was right, but yeuch, never again. The $30 dollars we paid for the two of us was a bargain, but the food was poor quality to say the least.

We left at 7.30pm to head to Downtown Disney, making sure we parked at the right end to avoid the Rainforest Café running fiasco from our first day. Matt wanted to go back to the cigar shop he’d seen on the first night, to buy a few to celebrate our engagement. He doesn’t smoke, neither of us do, but he and his business partner are partial to a nice cigar, on special occasions. The man in the shop was lovely, showed him all the different brands and Matt decided on 6 good quality cigars – all different types – for $80.

It was then time for La Nouba, so we headed back towards the big white circus top.



(I appear to have matched my outfit to the theatre!)

We bought a programme (for me more than anything, if I ever see a show I have to buy one!) and as it was only $1 extra, got a drink in a huge souvenir cup. Our seats were perfect, we had an amazing view, and were on the end of a section, so it was a doddle getting out if we needed to. The show itself was phenomenal – we were blown away. It was just over an hour and forty minutes, but it felt more like 10, the time flew by and there were so many elements to each act you didn’t know where to look. The accompanying band and singers were amazing too. I thoroughly, thoroughly recommend this show, if you can afford the tickets. It was so different to anything we’d ever seen before, and we now want to catch some other Cirque du Soleil shows – the ‘Love’ show in Vegas sounds amazing for a Beatles addict like me!

It was a long, busy day, and although we were buzzing when we left the theatre, having seen such a great show, we needed sleep! I tried my hardest not to fall asleep on the drive home and failed miserably. We staggered back to the room and fell into bed, needing some rest before Seaworld the next day.

[summersun]

great report

[Milner]

Excellent day and great photos. Really looking forward to seeing WWHOP next year.

[happy08]

Another brilliant report x

[Guest]

Another great report. Looking forward to wwohp in august.
We loved cirque too and have just come back from Vegas - we saw O and Viva Elvis. I suppose you could say that we've become Cirque de Soleil addicts.

[oh_darling]

YAY Sam you've come back! This report is one of my faves as we are also a young couple and you are doing lots of the things we are keep em coming chick!

[NatsyNoo]

Excellent report Sam, really enjoying it and glad you're back! Congrats on finishing your PG you must be so relieved to be in paid employment finally!
We are also a young couple travelling without kids so it's nice to hear the same perspective!

[chaffey]

What an excellent day, Hope Matt didn't spend as long in the cigar shop as my other half did. I could have been out of the disney shop in less time than DH spent in there and I love to shop

[orlandosgr8]

A great day at IOA